Housing Energy Certificate

Answers to 15 important questions about the Energy Certificate for homes

1. ¿What is the Energy Certificate?
"It is a document that includes the energy efficiency and consumption rating of a building, or part of it (i.e., living area, entire premises, office, etc.). It also includes information about the procedure, description of the energy characteristics and viable recommendations for improvement. The qualification must be submitted to an official body of the corresponding autonomous community to ensure registration of the certificate."

2. Who must have the Energy Certificate?
"The owner or developer who wants to sell or rent your home must have the Energy Certificate beginning June 1. In addition, both the owner or developer is responsible for presenting the certificate to the appropriate agency for registration."

3. When must one have the Energy Certificate?
"Beginning on June 1 of this year, this document and an Energy Certificate will be required to rent or sell a home, which shall be delivered to the purchaser or shown to the new tenant. The energy rating shall be provided to the relevant autonomous community. However, at present, only four persons are prepared to issue the tag. This means that even though being "compulsory" on and after June 1, there will be owners with an Energy Certificate but without being registered, and therefore, without the energy label to present to the purchaser or tenant until the CCAA creates the registry and corresponding regulations. In Italy, there was a few years ago, the same uproar as they were about to approach the deadline. However, on the set date, an adjustment period was established for all (owners, management, etc.) due to the complexity of the situation."

4. Is there a time limit for complying to the CCAA?
"The Royal Decree provides three months, (after in force on 14 April), for the autonomous communities to approve the regulation of Energy Certificates. "

5. Which autonomous communities have an Energy Certification registry office?
"The only regions that have CCAA registration are Andalusia, Valencia, Galicia and the Canary Islands. The Community of Madrid does not yet have regulations or a registry. "

6. Which agency handles the Energy Certificates?
"Article 5 of the Royal Decree grants autonomous communities the ability to regulate the energy certification and create an official registry where all certifications shall be entered. It remains unclear if the CCAA will charge a fee to the owner or developer for registering the certificate, but some experts do not rule out the charge as a means of raising funds."

7. What happens when the energy certificate is registered in the official agency?
"Register the certificate in the agency which grants the energy label for selling or renting property. "

8. How long is the Energy Certificate valid?
"It is valid for 10 years. The owner will be responsible for any renewals or updates according to what regulations the autonomous community has established. "

9. How much does the Energy Certificate cost?
"Experts say that market forces, (i.e., supply and demand) have priced it. An average price of about 250 to 300 Euros has been set, but everything depends on the quantity of housing and the availability of certifying professionals. "

10. What are the consequences if I don't have the certificate at the moment of selling or renting?
"The Royal Decree determines penalties for failure to comply with this requirement on all purchases and sale or rental of a property. There are three categories of sanctions: light, serious, and very serious. Penalties range from 3,000 to 600,000 euros."

11. How is compliance monitored with this mandatory requirement?
"The Royal Decree mentions in Article 10 that the CCAA shall monitor and check compliance with the Energy Efficiency Certificate , but the reality is that today, almost none have the specialized technicians available to perform those duties."

12. Can someone report the owner for not having the certificate available?
"As of June 1, any consumer can report that owner who wants to sell or rent a dwelling without the energy certificate. It may be the case that the owner has the certificate but has not yet recorded it because the relevant CCAA has not created the registry. In these situations, the owner need not worry."

13. Who certifies the document?
"It will be issued by a competent technician freely chosen by the owner. According to experts, a 'competent technician' will be an architect, technical architect or engineer. Those who issue the certification must also be qualified at the moment of certification. The Ministry of Education is in the process of reaching an agreement in that these technicians who have gotten the title can issue the certificate."

14. Are any buildings exempt from the Energy Certificate?
"Officially protected buildings and monuments, places of worship or religious activities, temporary buildings (intended for use equal to or less than two years), non-residential parts of buildings, industrial, defense and agricultural buildings, and isolated buildings with less than 50 m2 of useful space, and buildings used less than 4 months of the year."

15. What is the purpose of the Energy Certificate tax in Europe?
"The purpose of the Certificate is that homes in Spain be more efficient, but the consequence of a home energy rating is simply an informative and non-binding document. The purpose of the Government and of Europe is to assure that those homes with the worst energy ratings improve their energy efficiency. The goal is for all the homes that are built after December 31, 2020 have almost zero energy consumption, as is set in the additional Royal Decree 235/2013, April 5. This Royal Decree seeks to know the current state of the housing in Spain and what measures are taken to improve their efficiency."